Hosea Gear evades the tackle of England's Henry Slade to score his second try and seal victory for the Barbarians. Photograph: Tom Dwyer/Seconds Left/Rex

The Barbarians resorted to heavy hitters rather than heavy drinkers after the excesses of last year, which culminated in an embarrassingly heavy defeat by the Lions in Hong Kong one week after they had been humbled by England’s reserves, but even with nearly 50 caps to every one of their opponents they took a long while to subdue inexperienced but resourceful opponents.

English rugby is in buoyant mood in the run-up to next year’s World Cup, less than three years after the national side returned from the tournament in New Zealand under a long dark cloud that set off a series of storms. The sky now is bluer and, even though England fielded virtually an E side, with 31 players in New Zealand and more than 20 others either packing bags before joining them or recovering from injuries, it was only when Hosea Gear scored his second try four minutes from time that the Barbarians secured victory.

The experience of Gear, the New Zealand wing who will be returning home next year after sojourns in Europe and Japan to contest for a World Cup place, Joe Rokocoko and Juan Martín Hernández, combined with the midfield thrust provided by Rene Ranger, gave the Barbarians finishing power but England were at least as creative with three of their backs, Henry Slade, Elliot Daly (who played on the opposite side in this match a year ago) and Ollie Devoto all showing that they can disturb the thoughts of the senior management for next year’s World Cup, never mind 2019.

Slade spent nine minutes off the field having as many stitches inserted into a wound above his left eye, a result of Ranger’s knee hitting his face as he tackled the centre, but on his return he never shirked a challenge. None of the No10s jockeying to be Owen Farrell’s understudy is renowned for his defence and, even though Mamuka Gorgodze drove through the fly-half’s challenge five minutes into the second period to put the Barbarians ahead for the first time, Slade kept coming back for more.

The left-footed kicker said afterwards that his boyhood hero had been Jonny Wilkinson, and while he has some of the characteristics of the 2003 World Cup winner, there was more devil in him, a fusion of those below Farrell. He scored his side’s third and final try, forcing his way over after Devoto’s quick footwork had split the defence on 56 minutes

Slade’s conversion, which would have regained the lead for England, hit a post and they were eventually seen off by Gear’s two tries after he had been freed down the left wing, skipping out of Daly’s challenge after 64 minutes before riding Luke Wallace’s tackle as the Barbarians again punished loose kicking.

England had led 18-14 at half-time. They went ahead after 12 minutes when they drove a maul from a lineout and Dave Ewers picked up a few metres from the line after Joe Simpson had been held up. The flimsy challenge by the visitors’ captain, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, suggested a repeat of last year’s lackadaisical approach, but within five minutes they were level when Rokocoko’s long pass freed Ranger, who combined with Benson Stanley in vintage Barbarians style.

A Daly penalty restored England’s lead, which was extended when Charlie Sharples, one of three capped players, scored after Devoto’s chip, but again the response was immediate and Brock James’s cross-kick to Gear ended with Hernández touching down before Slade made the interval score 18-14 with a penalty.

Once the Barbarians had taken the lead, they used their experience to dictate the pace of the game and feed off mistakes: England did not have one capped player on the field in the final 27 minutes but the two tighthead props, Kyle Sinckler and Will Collier, were in effect on trial, with one flying out to New Zealand on Monday. The former had 51 minutes and looks the more interesting prospect, raw and bustling.

“Things are very promising for England,” said Jonathan Callard, who had spent the week as head coach in Stuart Lancaster’s absence in New Zealand. “Some 60 to 70 players are being used this month ahead of the World Cup and we did well against a far more experienced side.”

It was also about the future for the Barbarians after the shame of a year ago. Dean Ryan, their coach, said: “The club’s ethos is about player expression rather than being professional but we needed to find a balance. We had to represent it in the right way.”